Page 199 of Guilty Pleasures

Cassandra and Tom were walking through Hyde Park, not talking, just trying to enjoy the view and the milky sunshine. The buds on the trees were beginning to burst and the breeze had lost its chill and smelt sweet and fresh. Spring was coming, for all of them. Cassandra had been unsettled when Tom had phoned to suggest they meet. The two of them had barely spoken in a year; even in Gstaad they had kept their distance, and while the whole childish spat seemed slightly ridiculous after everything that had recently happened, Cassandra was still angry that if Tom hadn’t been so stupid and irresponsible then he wouldn’t have got into the debt that had incurred such tragic consequences.

Cassandra puffed her cheeks out in the breeze. Since Ruby’s disappearance, she had spent days examining her life and planning how to make amends, hoping and praying that the nuclear dust of her own personal explosion had all finally settled and she could at last get on with life. Her mother’s ordeal – she had willingly returned to Switzerland to face her charges – weighed heavily on her, but Cassandra was determined to help her by instructing the best Swiss legal team she could, even though she was concerned about the cost.

Cassandra was still hobbling a little and as they crossed the little bridge overlooking the Serpentine, Tom took the arm of her grey Dior coat to steady her. In a past life, she would have glared at him, perhaps summoned a driver in a golf cart. Today, she simply let him.

‘I’m sorry, Cass. I’m sorry for everything. My bar in Ibiza was successful. I just got a bit stitched up. Mum said she had the money.’

‘Let’s hope you’ve learnt a lesson. A painful one.’

‘So do you think Emma will testify?’ asked Tom as they sat on a bench and gazed out over the silvery water.

‘I expect so,’ Cassandra said bitterly. She had such conflicting emotions about her cousin that she felt nauseous just thinking about her. In her more reflective moments after the fire, Cassandra had felt herself soften towards Emma. She could now see she had got some things slightly askew: for years she had blamed Emma’s father for splitting up their family. It wasn’t true, and yet she had hated her cousin passionately on the shakiest of evidence because she had wanted to blame someone for her father leaving them.

But now there was a real reason to blame Emma for ruining her life. In the past weeks, Cassandra had come to terms with many things and one of them was that she loved her mother unconditionally. If Emma testified against Julia, she would rob Cassandra of a parent who loved her dearly, and whom she loved back, just at a time when she needed her mother most. On the other hand Julia had tried to kill Emma. However ruthless Cassandra knew she could be, she could never sanction or condone anything like that.

‘What are we going to do?’ asked Tom.

For the first time in her life Cassandra couldn’t see the clearest path through.

‘I don’t know,’ she said softly.

‘Whatever it is, let’s do it together,’ said Tom, nudging her gently.

For a moment she let herself enjoy the feeling of her brother standing next to her; it felt reassuring. She did not feel alone.

She looked at him intently.

‘Whatever you do next, you have to promise me that it involves getting a job,’ said Cassandra resolutely.

‘I don’t need to sponge off you any more,’ replied Tom sheepishly. ‘Rob is going to sort me out with an A&R role at Hollander Music’

‘So now you’re sponging off Rob?’ she said, a ghost of a smile on her wide red lips.

‘Watch it, cheeky. No, I’ll be working for a living this time. Rob says I’m going to make him a lot of money. He’s about to sign the Red Comets, that band I discovered in a dingy Camden dive.’

They both felt the mood lighten slightly.

‘Well, how about lunch to celebrate you saving my life and finding a career?’ replied Cassandra.

Tom looked at his sister. So strong, so determined. She was smart, beautiful and she could even be funny when she wanted to be. They were all good qualities that somehow had got lost in the rush for success and power.

‘Listen, big sister. Seeing as I’m the one with the job how about I treat you to Starbucks?’

‘Starbucks?’ said Cassandra in mock horror. ‘Don’t you know who I am?’

They both looked at each other and laughed.

Tom threw his arm around her shoulders and they headed off in the direction of the nearest latte.

Emma had been slowly falling apart. She was still losing weight, her skin had become blotchy and pale but she refused to slow down, no matter how often Rob asked her to. The gorgeous, generous woman he’d fallen in love with was becoming more withdrawn every day, despite the fact that the threat of attack had been lifted with Julia’s arrest. In desperation, Rob had taken Emma to Lyme Regis where they’d checked into a boutique hotel by the cliffs. It was out of season and they had taken a coastal walk, through a beautiful wood where the trees would occasionally part to give glimpses of the sea shimmering in the distance, like a long, platinum ribbon.

In the last forty-eight hours things had moved quickly. Julia was being investigated by both the Swiss and UK police who were re-interviewing her in connection with the Stables fire. Walking along the coast with the wind in her hair, one hand stuffed affectionately in Rob’s coat pocket, Emma was determined that she was going to try and put everything behind her and move on with her life.

Rob’s company was definitely helping. It had been the first time in days that they had talked properly about things other than solving the crime. They talked about Rob’s news plans for Hollander Music, about Ste Donahue and how well he was doing in his latest stint in rehab. They talked about Clover Connor who had maintained a dignified silence over the Blake Brinton affair but who had said that she and Ste were planning a commitment ceremony in Thailand as soon as he had finished his treatment. Tired from their climb, they sat down on a fallen tree in a sunny clearing.

‘I wanted to take you to our house in Sag Harbor this weekend,’ said Rob, ‘but I thought we should wait until this has all blown over. It really is going to be all over soon, honey.’

His voice had a calm confidence that reassured Emma, but unconsciously Rob had put his finger on the root of Emma’s anxiety: it wasn’t over yet.